The Soul of the White Ant Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)THE SOUL OF THE WHITE ANT.

Eugene Marais was born in Pretoria in 1872.He was a published poet at 12, by 16 he had matriculated. In 1890 he took his first job, as a journalist for the newspaper Land en Volk. A year later he was the editor, and by 20 owned the Afrikaans newspaper Land en Volk.

In 1894 came a severe blow that undoubtedly changed his life. he married but she died only a year later after their son was born. In 1896 he traveled to London to study law and as jurist Marais distinguished himself as a brilliant character in South African history. He has been seen as "...a human community in one man. He was a poet, an advocate, a journalist, a story-teller, a drug-addict, a psychologist, a natural scientist." He never shook off the habit. (His son and others referred obliquely to his bouts with the drug as his "ailing health".)

He qualified and was admitted to the bar at the Inner Temple. He studied medicine at the same time but in 1899 due to the war he stop. After not pulling a gunshot he let the barrel to produce the most exciting story of his time. (HOLM, E. & MARAIS, E. 1992. Fruit Chafers of Southern Africa. Sigma Press Ltd., Pretoria. 326 pp.)

The book gives a vivid picture of how ants and termites react. It goes on to analyze how a termitary is formed and how wonderful and mysterious it could be to a human being. He relates this beginning of termitary as a kind of psyche, as telepathy or other functions of the human mind, which border on the supernatural. These white ants have a community life. Being the most destructive to the wood of all kinds, building anthills on open vent still has an important aspect to play.

Their termitary begins from the moment when they fly, after the rains and usually at dusk, which allows them to escape from their worse enemies. Although they are faced with instinct they begin their thrilling fight knowing nothing about enemies. Since they have never being out of their nest. As described "paid of existence is to them a closed book, and yet nine times out ten they do not fly until the birds are safely in their nest" (Eugene Maris, pg. 22)

Termites that fly are big as the ones in the nest although they each look different, in color for some take the piece of weapons of defense like class or horns, some form mouthy and digestive system; other generate organs. The winged insects are a potential king or queen. They could have no opportunity for flight, because after flight they must seek immediate shelter in the ground, and if the ground is hard and dry it will be impossible. If there is a flight, the flyers are sometimes escorted by soldiers and workers, most of the termites' turn to preserve their lives by using a grass stalk to fly or practice. They turn to have more trouble flying because it needs to protect its self from enemies. After this precious flight they all try to discard of their wings. This flight is regarded as one moment for which they enjoy at least 3 seconds, or few yards. When the termites or white ants female discard of her wings she makes a signal which allows the male to come closer. This signal tells the male the female is in position waiting. The male discard of its wings if it needs to mate by searching and doing the house dance, this will then allow him to move into a house and stay with the female. They two will then mate and stay in that area forming a new community that will last for a period of time. The mating only occurs if their winds have being shaded after fusing, no matter what interest from man it will not occur.

In chapter two the unsolved secrets tells us how a termitary is built and how the termites behave. It allows us to see the comparative psychology aspects in termites. Here the queen makes continuous eggs to replace the workers and soldiers she dies. The only way she could do this, is by keeping her in a cell where can survive in a tiny space for the workers to feed the queen, and move the eggs away. She can never regain how temporally power because how nerves changes into fluid, and she moves by contract and expansion or she gains a temporary power of movement that most be discarded. The kind stays on as a hanger on in the palace. If the queen attends more than her size mass she is killed and eaten up, then another cell is built and a potential queen replaced to continue the task.

Again we are introduced to the language of the insects. They mostly communicate in using three things color, scant or sound. These are done by a particular kind of termites, which allows others to react, sometimes by behavior. Termites are blind but are sensitive to indirect ray of light far below the threshold of perception of which the human eye can not perceive. Although we can perceive with the olfactory organ for example 'the white ant' of Northern Transvaal emits a foul smell to a distance of three or four yards, which has a peculiar property of causing extreme nausea in most people and also in dogs. The cause of this smell is due to the discharge of a gas, which the termite uses for other purposes of which most South Africans will know the characteristic smell of the common termite. The queen termite allows us to scent a very strong scent that affects our senses. The termite turns to use four signals, which can be communal signals, sent out by the queen, who forms the hub of the nest. This signal serves as gathering and recognition for everyone in the community, this signal cannot be perceive by our senses.

2.) Also we perceive the call of the workers and soldiers as a sound.

3.) Food messages are beyond our perception. These three will be examine more closely later on.

4.) Lastly, the sexual signal of the queen, which is also beyond the reach of our senses, can be used through out life.

In chapter four Marais uses Personification by giving human qualities to the ants. He gives reason, why the psyche is described as out of our reach and senses by relating matter. These reasons as psychological movements are definite motive. He established the idea of a motive base on what movement will occur in a certain kind of matter. This movement will originates in the organism itself. In this sense he describes the psyche world as one in which plants and other organism turn to grow. Plant use light, tropism induced by outside influences, movements which depends on natural forces outside the organism and movements which appear to originates from within the organism, for instance, the extension of tendrils towards objects by certain cripple's. He allows us to view how external forces of nature and how instincts play a role through our memories as it does for the white ants, which motivates other animals. He shows that hereditary in the white ants occurs in the same pattern as in other organisms, he also allows individual to look at themselfs` as incapable of deviation from their own experiences after a repeatable task. To this psychologist will mean or say that the instinctive psyche cannot deviate from the inherited formula of behavior, and that individuals can acquire casual memory in order words he cannot learn by his own experience as the white ant. (Eugene Marais, pg. 49 lines 8-11).

While in chapter five we see the luminosity in the animal kingdom, he describes the nature of which most insects (white ants) and other animals try to use the light for signals, which are dependent for their sexual lives (e.g. pollination in the night by most insects). He also relates how the white ant uses this light for defense like the jellyfish. The light use is generated from oxidation and will disappear in the absence of oxygen.

While in chapter six and seven we are faced on how insects become composite, which allows us to classify what is a psychological movement or group of souls in the termitary. We become faced with the knowledge and questions such as; why the worker continues to work? That can be related to the termite or white ants having no free will or the choice to say no due to movement. The behavior of the white ant can only be determined from an influence or without and influence from the queen's senses. Its distance lesson is influence through a fixed limit, which is somatic death. This death destroys the influence immediately to allow the fifth stage of the termitary to separate compositely due to developmental stages. While in the sixth stage the white ant posses a specialized group, which allows them to look like mammals that encompasses a high development through nature. This stage of nature allows us to look at the body of an ant as insoluble and a body that can resist power and elasticity of the whole living body after death. It shows that the ants have a lot of cells that keeps it functioning as well as blood and water following through it.

In the next eight chapters we are looking at development of the termites or white ants and the aspects that make up death and why death is somatic. This allows us to see the general chemical components of the ants cell wall or organic materials are very unstable and breaks down into simple elements which allows new combination to take place; showing the organic matter has disappear and the cell can only be maintained if the ant is alive, but it falls apart when it dies. From this Marais concluded that unlike the human body, the termitary consists of structure of cells covered with a thick skin. He goes on to explain how the termites mind works and how food is in its natural process of transforming, from one cell to the other. He also allows us to look at the principle behind nature. He then continues with the development of the composite being,...Read more›

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Soul of the White Ant

Product Description:
"The Soul of the White Ant" by Eugène Marais is a passionate, insightful account into the world of termites. It is a meticulously researched expose of their complex, highly structured community life. Originally translated into English in 1937, the quality of research remains as relevant today as it was when it was first published. This illuminating account will not only appeal to those with a scientific interest in termites, but will similarly enthral readers who are new to their captivating world. An exceptional feature of his detailed research is the extraordinary psychological life of the termite. While the studies are based in South Africa, the extensive research includes the termites of Magnetic Island, Australia. You will be taken on an exciting journey into the amazing life of termites, as their astonishing world of hierarchy and roles within their community is revealed in captivating detail. His years of unceasing work on the veld led Eugène Marais to formulate his theory that the termite nest is similar in every respect to the organism of an animal. He observed that the workers and soldiers resemble red and white blood cells, while the fungus gardens are the digestive organ. The queen functions as the brain, controlling the collective mind, and the sexual flight of the kings and queens is similar in every aspect to the escape of spermatozoa and ova.This is a new edition of this title. The text has been extensively re-edited for today's reader.